Table 4

Safety of sputum induction for measurement of inflammatory indices in moderatetosevere stable or exacerbated asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)^#,¶

First author [Ref.]	Subject characteristics							Sputum induction
	Subject n	Sp ind n	Condition	Age yrs	IS n	FEV₁ % pred		Method [Ref.]	Safety Assessment			Fall %
			Condition			Mean	Min		Type	Interval min	Interruption	Mean	Max
Stable asthma or COPD
de la Fuente 4	30	30	Asthma	55.0	30	71.0	55.0⁺	1^§	FEV₁	5	fall ≥20%^ƒ,##	3.0	4.0
Pizzichini 10	18	21	COPD	67.1	15	29.0	13.0	5	FEV₁	1–2	fall ≥20^ƒ,##	16.5	29.7
Grootendorst 12	20	20	Asthma	14.9	20	85.4	60.5	12	FEV₁	20	fall ≥20^ƒ,##	NA	>20.0
VlachosMayer 14	93	93	Asthma	55.8	93	43.9	18.4	5	FEV₁	1–2	fall ≥20^ƒ,##	8.2	32.3
	19	19	COPD	63.9	14	35.2	20.5	5	FEV₁	1–2	fall ≥20^ƒ,##	9.7	29.5
Louis 30	22	22	Asthma	29.0	6	84.0	35.0	27	PEF	5	fall ≥20^ƒ,##	20.0	48.0
Exacerbated or uncontrolled asthma
Twaddell 8	8	12	exac asthma	12.0	6	62.0	25.0	4	PEF	0.5, 1, 2, 4, 8	fall ≥20,^##	NA	10.0
Pizzichini 6	10	30	exac asthma	41.8	7	48.1	37.0	1^§	FEV₁	1–2	fall ≥20^ƒ,##	8.2	42.0
de la Fuente 4	8	8	Mild asthma	48.0	4	95.0	90.0⁺	1^§	FEV₁	5	fall ≥20^ƒ,##	4.0	8.0
	13	13	Severe asthma	52.0	13	61.0	50.0⁺	1^§	FEV₁	5	fall ≥20^ƒ,##	6.0	10.0
Pizzichini 11	8	12	PREDdep asthma	54.3	8⁺⁺	55.0	45.0	5	FEV₁	1–2	fall ≥20^ƒ,##	7.0	19.5
Pizzichini 34	31	31	Uncontrd asthma	30.8	None	73.9	19.0	1 or 6^§	FEV₁	7 or 1–2	fall ≥20^ƒ,##	10.7	53.0

Sp ind: sputum induction
IS: inhaled steroids
FEV₁: forced expiratory volume in one second
% pred: percentage of the predicted value
Min: minimum
Max: maximum
NA: not available
PEF: peak expiratory flow
exac: exacerbation
PREDdep: prednisone dependent
Uncontrd: uncontrolled
^#: control subjects not included
^¶: all subjects pretreated with bronchodilator (180 or 200 µg salbutamol)
⁺: 25th percentile
^§: modified
^ƒ: or specimen obtained
^##: or patient experienced discomfort
⁺⁺: plus prednisone